in breath and shifting his weight from foot to foot, Jimin stared at himself intently in the dance studio mirror. He furrowed his eyebrows and felt a faint sinking feeling when he lifted his shirt slightly and had to squint to make out the abs that had gained him so much popularity during his group’s debut. He was going to have to try much, much harder.

“Jimin!” a shout suddenly bounced off the walls of room.

“Jiminnie!” This time closer.The concentrating boy distractedly noticed the approaching form of his roommate- and bestfriend- Taehyung.

Sighing, Jimin turned from his reflection and sent Taehyung a bright smile making his friend run towards him and tackle him, ruffling his soft orange hair.

Jimin laughed and looked up at his roommate, “Taetae, what are you doing here so late? Aren’t the others out at dinner by now?”

“I could ask you the same thing! Plus, I found Yoongi-hyung’s snack stash and have been chowing on that for, like, the past three hours. What’s your excuse?” The taller boy smirked down at Jimin. “Anyways, I was waiting for you so we could leave together but you took so long I decided to check on you!”

“Ah, is that so? Sorry Tae… Well, let’s go!” Jimin awkwardly evaded and squirmed out from his friends arms, then he scurried out from the practice room. Teahyung watched him go and then shook his head, reminded himself that Jimin was always just a little weird, that’s why they got along so well.

Soon they both reached their apartment and found that the others had in fact beat them there and were already lounging about and settling in for the night. None of them really acknowledged their arrival and to Jimin that was just fine. Taehyung however was not okay with this blatant lack of appreciation towards himself and decided to pester their leader who was draped around a sleepy looking Jin.

Jimin laughed quietly at his hyper friend and walked towards his room as he’d been feeling more and more exhausted recently and honestly he just wanted to sleep for a year. He shut the door behind him and as soon as he turned back around he sighed and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes and breathing deeply for just a few seconds.

“Come on, Park Jimin, come on. Pull yourself together, “ he whispered to himself softly. He shook his head sharply as if to shoo away the looming thoughts that threatened to upset him and pulled out his favourite pajamas: a light blue pair with little white polka dots. He swore it was made out of clouds, it was so soft and honestly he loved the pastel colours of it, they calmed him.

He climbed into his bed and cocooned himself in his comfortable blankets that Jin had piled onto his bed once it had started getting colder outside. He fully enveloped himself until only a tuft of his bright dyed hair sticking out of the covers. Shutting his eyes tightly he willed himself to sleep, sleep, sleep. But it just wouldn’t come. After what felt like an eternity of him trying to sleep to no avail, he peeked one eye open and with a small movement he peered from under his sheets at the laptop sitting idle on his desk across the room. The light on the side of the computer blinked a dull green colour.

On. Off. On. Off.

It was taunting him.

Reluctantly he slipped out from his warm bed and lifted the screen of his computer, the web browser already open and displaying the source of his exhaustion. Comments, critiques really, about how he danced, how his singing wasn’t up to par with the other members, and how he looked chubbier recently. Jimin wasn’t angry, he was just….Sad. He was sad he let down all of his fans.

Rationally he knew it was stupid, the negative comments were far outweighed by the many praises, but they’d been plaguing his thoughts and nibbling away at his reason and now it was all he could think about. He looked down and pinched his tummy...yeah, maybe those comments were just a little true.

“Hey you still awake there, Jimin-ah?”Jin whispered into the dark room.

Jimin jumped pack and shut his laptop down so fast he tumbled off the rolly desk chair and was now staring at his friend from the ground with large blinking eyes that just screamed guilty.

“Aish, Jimin, what are we going to do with you?” the elder said gently as he leaned down and carefully lifted the boy back to his feet.

Before another second could pass, Jimin threw himself into Jin’s arms and burrowed his head under the taller boy’s chin, seeking comfort.

“Hyung…” he whispered into the embrace, unable to see Jin’s bewildered face.

Jin was shocked and quite worried and soon wrapped his arms fully around the enigma in his arms, his protective side coming out fully.

“Jiminnie,” he started, once he pulled back slightly to peer into the boys wide brown eyes. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Hyung’s worried…” he coaxed.

Taking a moment to calm down, Jimin realized how he had just acted and felt so, so stupid. What was he, a child? Jin must think he’s so stupid. He quickly shook his head, no, Jin genuinely cared about all of them, that’s why he was the unofficial ‘mom’ of their group, much to the eldest boy’s feigned chagrin.

“I-I’m fine hyung… Really. Sorry about that, I guess I just...I guess I just missed you is all.” He gave a small smile causing his eyes to turn into little crescents and Jin’s heart melted there and then.

Jin had always had a soft spot for Jimin, seeing the boy as a younger brother to him and he thusly felt fiercely responsible for him and making sure he was healthy and happy at all times. Even though Jungkook was the actual maknae of the group, he was always looking for independence and brushed off any and all attempts at coddling him, dissatisfied with being babied and rather wanting to do his own thing. Jimin though, Jimin was the member that the other’s all admittedly saw as the true youngest member, he was the shortest and acted the most innocent, and he was so eager to please at all times that he would often forget to take care of himself. Not to mention the fact that he was just precious with his fluffy orange hair and tiny tiny hands. Jin’s paternal instincts (or maternal, as the other members ) really went into overdrive around the boy.

Gently brushing aside some of Jimin’s long bangs, Jin smiled and walked Jimin over to his bed. “You don’t have to miss me, Jimin, I’m right down the hall, you know? Come visit me any time you need to, ok?” he patted the boys shoulder comfortingly. “But now, you should really get some sleep. You were out practicing really late today, you need all the rest you can get,”

Jimin nodded his head as he lowered himself back into his warm bed, his eyelids heavy but the bad thoughts still lingered. All he wanted was to practice more and sing until his throat went raw. He had to improve. He just had to.

But Jin was looking at him so sweetly, he thought, maybe for just tonight, yeah just for tonight he could take a break.